🔗 Share this article

Wales' attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final encounter on home soil.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any opponent after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so they'll be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and earned a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four attempts but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken just one point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.